"Tim Lebbon - Dusk 02 - Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lebbon Tim)

They fell silent, and in the distance Alishia heard a skull raven calling into the darkness. She wondered
what it had found sleeping, whose dreams it may be stealing and whether there was a volume in her
dream library that would contain the knowledge of its victim.

She relished TreyтАЩs touch, yet something felt so wrong about her body. She wondered if he could
perceive that simply by touching her. She was not hungry, for a start, and her throat was not dry, and she
did not need to urinate. They said she had been asleep for a whole day. The dream felt like a lifetime, but
her body seemed not to notice. She was growing younger, and the tide of time seemed to be changing
with her.

тАЬItтАЩs not pointless,тАЭ Alishia whispered at last. None of them answeredтАФTrey merely squeezed her hand
tighterтАФso she went on. тАЬIтАЩve dreamed, Kosar, of something vast and priceless and in danger. That
something is in me, and it wasnтАЩt in me before. And I just know itтАЩs from Rafe. He knew he was going to
die. Perhaps heтАЩd known right from the beginning. And it was his last act of defiance to pass it to me,
because he knew he was also passing along his last scrap of hope.тАЭ

тАЬSo magic is fucking with us,тАЭ Kosar said. тАЬIt seeds itself in Rafe, dooms him to die, then passes itself to
you. But it kills AтАЩMeer in the meantime, and leaves us to sit and rot here. Lets itself be taken by the
Mages and twisted into whatever they want. ThatтАЩs good. ThatтАЩs all good.тАЭ

тАЬMagic lets nothing happen,тАЭ Alishia said. тАЬRafe told us that. It was so young, so passive, it was fighting
to stay alive. But thereтАЩs so much below the surface of things that we can never see or understand, and I
think what Rafe passed into me was an idea. A knowledge that only I can carry.тАЭ

тАЬWhy only you?тАЭ Hope said, and the envy in her voice was obvious.

тАЬBecause IтАЩm a librarian,тАЭ Alishia said.

Hope laughed. It was a horrible sound, loud and guttural. The skull raven called again in the distance, as
if in response.

тАЬSomethingтАЩs wrong with me,тАЭ Alishia said. Trey shuffled closer until she felt the heat of his flesh. тАЬTrey,
somethingтАЩs wrong, and I know itтАЩs all going to end so soon.тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs ended already,тАЭ Kosar said. тАЬNoreela will change, thatтАЩs for certain, and anyone they do leave alive
will have to change along with it.тАЭ

тАЬBut IтАЩm trying to tell you, Kosar, that thereтАЩs hope in me.тАЭ

тАЬWhat sort of hope? Magic?тАЭ

Alishia shook her head, but she knew that was neither right nor wrong. тАЬNot magic, but a route there.тАЭ

тАЬHow do you pretend to know this?тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs what I feel. ItтАЩs what Rafe told me before he was taken. I donтАЩt know; this is all sostrange to me.
All I know is I have dreams, and something unnatural is happening to me. ThereтАЩs a reason behind that,
and hope within it.тАЭ

Kosar stared at her for a few heartbeats, his eyes unwavering. тАЬThe land has turned stranger than ever,